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Johnny Thomas Art

@johnnythomasart

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🎨 Watercolor Artist & Story Teller
🎓 Educator making art easy & less stressful
🖌️ Demos + Community on Patreon
⬇️ Start your creative journey here

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We’re kicking off #SkiesForJT over on Patreon! Every paid Patreon supporter gets a partially painted landscape from me with a wide open sky for you to make your own.

If that sounds like your kind of fun, come join us! ❤️
Ready to get better at skies?

Share this to an artist friend who loves skies ☁️

#artcommunity #painting #paintinginspiration #watercolor taken in Lafayette, Louisiana by @johnnythomasart

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4 months ago

Perfection has a way of taking over if you let it.

You start with something loose and honest, and somewhere along the way you try to control it into being “right.” That’s usually when it loses its voice. The brushstrokes tighten up. The colors get safe. The painting starts to feel forced.

I’ve been learning to let a piece be what it wants instead of what I planned. To leave the unexpected marks. To trust the direction it’s going, even if it’s not what I had in mind.

Not every painting needs to be polished. Some just need to be left alone.

Follow along
#arttips
#paintingtips
#arteducation
#artpractice
#creativeprocess taken in Lafayette, Louisiana by @johnnythomasart

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7 months ago

Just 2 PAINTS
This sky was painted with only two PAINTS. Glacier Blue and Perelyne Violet. That’s it. No secret third mix hiding somewhere off camera.

When you lean Glacier Blue a little heavier, the sky breathes cooler and lighter. When you let Perelyne Violet take the lead, it deepens and shifts into something moodier. Just two PAINTS. Completely different feelings. That’s the power of understanding your mixes instead of chasing more tubes.

As a watercolor artist, I’ve learned the challenge isn’t having more options. It’s knowing your options well. When you limit yourself, you start seeing temperature shifts, subtle value changes, and all those in-between hues most people miss.

You don’t need more colors. You need more control. 🎨

Follow to start thinking different about your art.
#arttips
#paintingtips
#arteducation
#artpractice
#creativeprocess taken in Lafayette, Louisiana by @johnnythomasart

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8 months ago

Does every piece need a backstory? Does every painting need to mean something? Sometimes it’s just about sitting down, putting paint on paper, and enjoying the process.

Not everything needs an explanation. Sometimes mushrooms are just mushrooms.

#watercolorpainting #painting #artinspiration #creativeprocess #paintinginspiration by @johnnythomasart

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7 days ago

For a long time, I felt like I needed to fill every spare moment with something productive. More painting, more content, more ideas, more time online. With the big 40 approaching, I realized I was making less room for the things that make life worth living in the first place.

So I’ve been switching things up. Making more time to read, travel, spend time with my family, and just experience life outside of a screen. I still love painting, creating, and sharing what I do, but I don’t want my entire life to revolve around it.

I think sometimes we get so caught up documenting our lives that we forget to actually live them.

The work will always be there. Life is happening right now. I’m trying to make a little more room for it. 💚🎨

#painting #paintinginspiration #artinspiration #creativeprocess #watercolorpainting taken in Lafayette, Louisiana by @johnnythomasart

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8 days ago

🐝🐝🐝 watercolor painting by @johnnythomasart 🍯 by @johnnythomasart

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13 days ago

Watercolor deserves way more credit.

It’s fast. It’s portable. It can be loose, detailed, bold, quiet, controlled, or completely out of control. You can throw a couple brushes, a small palette, and some paper in a bag and go paint basically anywhere.

And the thing I love most?

It doesn’t let you overthink everything.

The paint moves. The paper does its thing. Sometimes you get exactly what you wanted. Sometimes you get something better.

If you’ve never tried watercolor, give it a shot.

Worst case, you make a bad painting.

That’s still a painting.

Is watercolor for you? 👇

Follow along if you want to see what this weird little medium can do.

#watercolorpainting #watercolortutorial #watercolorforbeginners #learnwatercolor #watercoloreducation taken in Lafayette, Louisiana by @johnnythomasart

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17 days ago

I’m getting more comfortable with making paintings that aren’t great.

That sounds simple, but it’s harder than it sounds. I’ve been painting bigger, which means retraining my brain, my brush, my movements, and the way I approach the entire painting. Some things that worked on smaller pieces just don’t work the same way at a larger scale.

…some of these new paintings have not been very good. I’m okay with that.

If I’m going to try something new, I have to trust myself enough to be bad at it for a while. You can’t grow while constantly protecting yourself from failure. At some point, you have to be willing to make something that doesn’t work and learn from it.

What’s something you’ve been wanting to try, but have been afraid you won’t be good at?

Follow along if you want to see where this experiment goes. And if this resonates with another artist, share it with them.

#watercolorchallenge #watercolor #watercolorpainting #watercolorartist #artistlife taken in Lafayette, Louisiana by @johnnythomasart

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19 days ago

Watercolor advice from @johnnythomasart using @silverbrushltd brushes 🩶 by @johnnythomasart

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23 days ago

Every painting is basically me asking, “What happens if I try this?”

Sometimes the answer is beautiful.

Sometimes the answer is… well, technically it’s paper and paint, so I guess that’s something.

I want to keep getting better. Try new things. Make weird decisions. And occasionally make a painting that actually does what I had in my head.

You can just keep painting.

Keep getting a little better.

And enjoy the hell out of the process along the way.
.
#Watercolor #WatercolorArtist #ArtistLife #CreativeProcess #PaintForYourself taken in Lafayette, Louisiana by @johnnythomasart

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a month ago

I’ve been putting together a little emergency paint kit.

Nothing fancy. Just the bare essentials for those times when you see something worth painting and conveniently have absolutely nothing with you.

A few brushes. A small palette. Some paper. Pencil.
That’s about it.

The idea is to keep it small enough that I can toss it in a bag and have it with me wherever I go. I like having the option to paint without needing to haul the studio around with me.

You never really know when something is going to catch your eye.
And apparently, I’m preparing for a watercolor emergency.

Follow along for more painting stuff, and tell me what you keep in your emergency paint kit.

@shop.quell
@silverbrushltd
@etchr_lab
@holbeinartistmaterials
@arttoolkit

#Watercolor #WatercolorPainting #UrbanSketching #PleinAirPainting #WatercolorArtist by @johnnythomasart

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a month ago

Not every brush belongs in every painting. Trust me, I’ve tried.

A big quill or mop can give you loose washes and soft transitions, while a round gives you more control when you need to move pigment around or lift something back out. A smaller round can handle the details without turning every little mark into a watercolor wrestling match.

Even the size matters. A big brush can keep you loose and cover a lot of paper quickly. A tiny brush gives you precision when you actually need it.

The goal isn’t to find one perfect brush. It’s to have the right tool for what you’re trying to say.

Sometimes the painting needs control.
Sometimes it needs chaos.

And sometimes you just need to stop trying to paint the sky with a tiny #2 round. 😂

What’s the one brush you reach for the most? Drop it in the comments, and follow and share if this helped.

#arttips #arteducation #paintingprocess #painting artistlife by @johnnythomasart

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a month ago